The presidential election of 2007 in the

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, ; also referred to as the Republic of Srpska or Serb Republic) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other bein ...

entity of

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

was announced after the premature death of President

Milan Jelić Milan Jelić ( sr-cyrl, Милан Јелић; 26 March 1956 – 30 September 2007) was a Bosnian Serb politician who served as the 6th president of Republika Srpska from 2006 until his death in 2007. Biography Born near Modriča, Jelić complet ...

on 30 September 2007 and was held on 9 December 2007. Until the election took place,

Igor Radojičić Igor Radojičić ( sr-cyr, Игор Радојичић; born 13 September 1966) is a Bosnian Serb politician who served as mayor of Banja Luka from 2016 until 2020. He served as the 5th Speaker of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska as we ...

, also from the ruling

Alliance of Independent Social Democrats The Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (; abbr. СНСД or SNSD) is a Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serb Serbian nationalism, nationalist political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Founded in 1996, it is the governing party in Republika ...

, was acting president. The election had to be called within fifteen days of Jelić's death; it was called on 11 October 2007, with candidates to be nominated by 16 October 2007.

Candidates

There were ten candidates, with the frontrunners being the

Academy of Sciences chairman

Rajko Kuzmanović Rajko Kuzmanović ( sr-cyr, Рајко Кузмановић; born 1 December 1931) is a Bosnian Serb politician in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He served as President of the Republic of Srpska from 7 December 2007 to 15 November 2010. He succeeded t ...

of the ruling

, MP

Ognjen Tadić Ognjen Tadić ( sr-cyrl, Огњен Тадић; born 20 April 1974) is a Bosnian Serb politician, lawyer, journalist and sociologist who served as member of the national House of Peoples from 2011 to 2019. Previously, he served as member of the ...

of the main opposition Serbian Democratic Party, and former

Prime Minister of Republika Srpska A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

and

Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

Mladen Ivanić Mladen Ivanić ( sr-cyr, Младен Иванић, ; born 16 September 1958) is a Bosnian Serb politician who served as the 6th Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2014 to 2018. He is the founder, member and former pr ...

of the

Party of Democratic Progress The Party of Democratic Progress (, abbr. ПДП, PDP) is a centre to centre-right Serb political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina founded on 26 September 1999. It is the third-largest party in the Republika Srpska entity. History The PDP was e ...

. All three main candidates supported Republika Srpska's status in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the

Dayton Accords The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement or the Dayton Accords ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Dejtonski mirovni sporazum, Дејтонски мировни споразум), and colloquially kn ...

President of Serbia The president of Serbia (), officially styled as President of the Republic (), is the head of state of Serbia. The current officeholder is Aleksandar Vučić, who was elected in 2017 and has held the role since 31 May 2017. According to the C ...

Boris Tadić Boris Tadić, (born 15 January 1958) is a Serbian politician who served as the president of Serbia from 2004 to 2012. Born in Sarajevo, he graduated from the University of Belgrade with a degree in psychology. He later worked as a journalist ...

and the Democratic Party in

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

supported the SNSD and its candidate Kuzmanović. According to the electoral law, there would be no run-off. The other candidates were: *

Mirko Blagojević Mirko (Cyrillic script: Мирко) is a masculine given name of South Slavic origin. By Slavic etymology, the name is composed of the root ''mir'' (meaning peace) and hypocoristic suffix ''-ko'' usual in South Slavic languages, which together me ...

of the Serbian Radical Party "Dr. Vojislav Šešelj" *

Slobodan Popović Slobodan Popović (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Cyrillic: Слободан Поповић; born 28 September 1962) is a Serbs, Serbian former Middle distance running, middle distance runner who primarily competed in the 800 metres. He represented h ...

of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

* Krsto Jandrić of the National Democratic Party *

Anton Josipović Anton "Ante" Josipović (born 22 October 1961) is a former Yugoslav boxer from Bosnia and Herzegovina (then part of Yugoslavia). He won the light heavyweight gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics. He was born in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzego ...

of the

People's Party Work for Prosperity People's Party Work for Prosperity ( Bosnian and Croatian: ''Narodna stranka Radom za Boljitak''; abbr. NSRzB) is a multi-ethnic party in Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally ...

Nedžad Delić Nejat (and its variants Necat, Nexhat and Nedžad) is a Turkish male name of Persian origin. The name is found in the Turkish, Albanian and Bosnian languages. The name derived from the Persian word "Nezhad or Nijâd " meaning "race and nobility". ...

of the Democratic Party of the Disabled *

Dragan Đokanović Dragan Đokanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Драган Ђокановић; born 20 April 1958) is a Bosnian Serb politician, member, founder and president of the Democratic Party of Federalists, physician, sportsman and one of the most popular men i ...

independent candidate * Nikola Lazarević of the European Ecological Party E5

Results

According to unofficial results (with 55% of the votes counted), Kuzmanović won the election with 44.53% of the votes to Tadić's 33.28% and Ivanić's 16%. Turnout was close to 36%. Official results released on 2007-12-17 confirmed these preliminary results. Kuzmanović was sworn in on 2007-12-28.New Bosnian Serb president vows to work to prevent further unification of country – International Herald Tribune
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References

{{Republika Srpska elections

Elections in Republika Srpska 2007 in Bosnia and Herzegovina